Free Tower in the Woods by Tara Quan Page A

succeeded with aplomb.
    Dane felt a little like preening as he noticed the way Nel’s bright blue gaze swept over his sweaty body, lingering appreciatively at his chest and shoulders. She clearly liked what she saw, for her cheeks dimpled into a smile as her tongue came out to lap over that full lower lip, bringing back extremely vivid memories of how she had just last night licked him to orgasm. Realizing his boxers were pooled precariously around his groin, he somersaulted into a standing position and made his best attempt at a charming smile.
    “Thanks for washing my clothes,” he said like an idiot as they continued to stare at each other. The sexual tension in the room was rising to ridiculous levels so Dane safely decided to cut and run. “Mind if I use your bathroom?”
    Nel shook her pretty blonde head silently as she continued to ogle him, her gaze turning languorous as she blushed. Not even bothering to look down at his groin, Dane fled to the other room and shut the door behind him.
    Luckily, Nel had copious amounts of extremely cold water, which was bound to be quickly replenished once the snow started melting. Stepping into a nonfunctional bathtub, Dane grabbed the plastic bucket sitting on the tiled floor, reached over the wall of the reservoir, and filled the container completely before proceeding to upend the entire contents over his head. Breathing a huge sigh of relief as his boner quickly shriveled as a result of the water’s freezing temperature, he quickly scrubbed himself clean before repeating the process, shivering profusely once he finally stepped soaking wet out of the bathtub.
    “I have an extra one of these if you want to brush your teeth,” Nel said from behind him. Clearly her upbringing had not included the concept of privacy implied by closed doors. Knowing he was completely naked, Dane turned only his head as he reached for the proffered item, surprised she had even put some minty homemade toothpaste on it.
    “I don’t believe you will fit into any of my clothing,” Nel said, impervious to Dane’s discomfort. The erection he had so painstakingly gotten rid of was now back in full force. Apparently all his penis needed to rise to full attention was for Nel to be in his immediate vicinity.
    “Ah … I figured I’d re-wear my boxers and dry off by the fire,” Dane replied, not quite knowing what the etiquette was in this situation. Nel clearly didn’t care he was naked. She simply leaned against the doorjamb, waiting for him to come out. His brain somehow turned itself back on, making him mutter the lamest excuse imaginable. “I don’t like people watching when I brush my teeth.”
    Nel’s eyebrows rose, her face clearly saying she now thought he was a complete weirdo, but she thankfully walked away, shutting the door as she went.
    “Down, boy,” Dane ordered as he glowered at the offending body part, one that was getting into the habit of overruling his brain. “She’s off-limits. At least for now.”
    * * * *
    One of the things Nel missed the most about life outside the Tower was cooking. For obvious reasons, Mother Gothel usually brought her nonperishable food, the kind that came in cans and vacuum-sealed bags. Because Nel ate with an eye toward stockpiling, she couldn’t logically make herself ask the prophet to increase the amount of fresh food in lieu of the canned goods, even if she could rarely bring herself to eat the disgusting stuff.
    However, since canned and preserved food were not easy to find, only becoming available when scavenging parties came back from raiding nearby ruins, the prophet still brought a good amount of grains, tubers, dried fruit, and vegetables as well as small amounts of smoked mutton. Nel never had much of an appetite, so she usually stored all of the canned goods and satisfied herself with making home-cooked meals last the week.
    The most efficient way to make a little food go a long way was to start one giant pot of stew and keep it over